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Omni Architects - News

omni co-sponsors top-10 ranked uk solar decathlon house

October 09
The University of Kentucky Solar Decathlon team brought home ninth place in the U.S. Department of Energy's 2009 Solar Decathlon held on the National Mall last week - an outstanding achievement for a first-time competitor! The house was designed and constructed by an interdisciplinary team of architecture, engineering and communications students, faculty and staff from six colleges and 16 centers at the University of Kentucky. UK's entry, s.ky blue, is a 800-square-foot, fully equipped, single-story prototype house that uses only solar energy to power it and is designed to achieve net-zero—creating at least as much energy as it uses.


After arriving in DC, the team had just four days to reassemble the solar house to be judged along with projects from 19 other invited universities. Entries were evaluated in ten different categories including architecture, engineering, lighting design, net metering, comfort zone, communications, appliances, market viability, hot water and home entertainment. Teams were required to demonstrate that, using just solar power, their homes can do everything that other homes can do, from running computers to heating water and doing laundry.

Omni Architects is one of several sponsors of the project and donated time and expertise to assist the team in the design phase. After the Solar Decathlon, the s.ky blue house will be showcased on campus in front of the Main Building during UK's 2009 Homecoming Oct. 29 - Nov. 1, and will also be on display during the 2010 World Equestrian Games next fall.

hb2 begins, ranks kentucky among top in green construction

July 09
House Bill 2, passed by the 2008 Kentucky General Assembly, went into effect July 1, beginning a new chapter in sustainability in public construction in the Commonwealth. The new law requires all construction or renovation of public buildings for which 50 percent or more is funded by the Commonwealth to meet high performance building standards. The law sets a sliding scale of certification level based on the project budget, as follows:

  • $25 million or more - LEED Silver level or higher

  • $5 to $25 million - LEED Certified or higher

  • Less than $5 million - Designed using LEED Rating System as guidance.


The new law corresponds with the kickoff of the new LEED Version 3 requirements that the U.S. Green Building Council set into effect June 27.

According to the Governor’s office, these new standards put Kentucky in an elite group of 12 states with laws requiring that some or all design, construction and operation of state buildings earn LEED Silver or other comparable standard. The regulations, which will make Kentucky’s public facilities among the greenest and most energy efficient in the country, were developed following six months of work by the High Performance Buildings Advisory Committee (HPBAC), administered through the Kentucky Finance Cabinet.

omni offers LEED workshop for uk physical plant division

May 09
At the request of the University of Kentucky, Omni Architects and CMTA Consulting Engineers led a two hour workshop for staff of the UK Physical Plant division focused on the requirements of House Bill 2. The new legislation goes into effect July 1 and requires all construction or renovation of public buildings for which 50 percent or more is funded by the Commonwealth to meet high performance building standards.



More than 40 engineers attended the continuing education workshop, which included a review of LEED standards, case studies of how sustainable design practices have been implemented on UK’s campus, and analysis of the cost and maintenance implications of various sustainable design solutions.

omni adds four more LEED APs

January 09
Beginning in 2006, Greg White and Michael Jacobs were the first Omni members to become LEED® Accredited Professionals. In the last two months, four more Omni architects passed the rigorous exam - Eric Zabilka, Don Adams, Jody Boelhauf, and Jeff Bennett. This new expertise will allow Omni to continue to offer our clients design solutions that take advantage of the latest technologies and trends in sustainable design.


Learn more about our expertise in sustainable design.

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